Oregon State routs Nicholls State 77-3

Storm Woods had two first quarter touchdowns and Cody Vaz threw three touchdown passes as No. 16 Oregon State destroyed Nicholls State, 77-3.

Vaz passed for 190 yards on 14-of-17 attempts while Sean Mannion added 231 yards and two scores on 20-of-23 passes for the Beavers (9-3), who were coming off a 48-24 loss to Oregon in the Civil War last week.

Markus Wheaton had 12 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown and also had a rushing touchdown in the win.

"There was the big question of if we were going to be ready to play coming off of the disappointment of losing the Civil War and not having played very well," said Oregon State head coach Mike Riley. "I thought that the kids came back and followed the lead of the coaches who prepared them. That was a good week of work and I am really proud of them for doing that."

Landry Klann passed for 164 yards with two interceptions on 19-of-32 attempts for the Colonels (1-10), who dropped their final eight games of the season after their only win on Sept. 22 against Evangel.

"My goal was to have some things to build on from a game like this," said Nicholls State head coach Charlie Stubbs. "I knew the matchups at some positions were going to be terrible for us."

This contest was supposed to be the season opener for both teams on Sept. 1, but it had to be rescheduled due to Hurricane Isaac.

Oregon State led this game from the opening possession as the team went 72 yards in 10 plays and an 8-yard run into the end zone from Woods gave the team a 7-0 lead with 9:50 left in the first.

Following a short possession from Nicholls State, the Beavers again marched the length of the field for another touchdown. On the 12th play of the 91-yard drive, Woods got into the end zone from a yard out for a 14-0 lead with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.

Oregon State blew the game open in the second quarter with three more TDs, the first of which was a 10-yard run into the end zone by Wheaton with 11:09 to play.

A three-and-out from the Colonels saw Oregon State start the possession with the ball at its own 38 and Terron Ward capped the six-play drive with a 15- yard run for a 28-0 lead with 7:40 left in the half.

Wheaton's 2-yard touchdown catch from Vaz with 1:14 left until halftime gave Oregon State a 35-0 lead at the break.

Things didn't get better for Nicholls State after halftime as Klann was picked off on the first snap, and Oregon State turned that into seven more points on a 4-yard TD catch by Richard Mullaney from Mannion.

Kevin Cummings caught a 22-yard score from Mannion later in the third while Nicholls State countered with its first points of the game on a 26-yard field goal by Andrew Dolan with 2:40 left in the third.

Obum Gwacham caught a 7-yard score from Vaz on the first play of the fourth quarter and Jordan Jennings had a 20-yard TD catch from Vaz later in the final quarter.

Nicholls State fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and Malcolm Agnew carried the ball into the end zone from 11 yards out with seven minutes to play.

Michael Balfour had a 4-yard score after another Nicholls State turnover to cap the scoring in the game.

Game Notes

Nicholls State's men's basketball team also lost on Saturday, but by fewer points than the football team in an 84-39 defeat at the hands of No. 13 Michigan State ... This was the first-ever meeting between these two schools ... Oregon State totaled 683 yards while Nicholls State managed just 223 ... A total of 13 players caught a pass for Oregon State.